To improve the reliability of data transmission, some wireless systems employ a HARQ scheme where error detection (ED) bits and forward error correction (FEC) bits are added to transmissions. A receiver can use these ED and FEC bits to determine whether or not a packet was decoded properly. If not, the receiver may signal the transmitter via a negative acknowledgment (NAK), prompting the transmitter to retransmit the packet.
In some applications, Chase combining may be employed, where incorrectly received coded data blocks are stored at the receiver (in a HARQ buffer) rather than discarded. When the retransmitted block is received, the retransmitted block is combined with the previously received block, which can increase the probability of successful decoding. Different types of combining techniques may have an impact on bit error rate performance and the required buffer size, depending on transmission parameters. Unfortunately, transmission parameters often change, especially between wireless channels, such that the type of combining scheme implemented in a receiver is not always optimal.